Known as one of the elite academies in the United States, the Red Bulls U-16 squad had a chance of the lifetime over the past couple of weeks, as they traveled to Spain to compete in the Under-17 Copa Quixote.
With a number of top clubs in the world represented in the tournament including Juventus (Italy), FC Barcelona (Spain) and PSV Eindhoven (Holland), the competition provided an invaluable experience for the players and coaches involved. The Copa Quixote consisted of 16 teams and over 350 players from a variety of backgrounds.
The Red Bulls were placed in a group with Partizan Belgrade (Serbia), Juventus and Sevilla (Spain) - a challenging set of opponents. However, the Red Bulls represented their club well.
"This is the type of environment our players at home need to experience earlier and often," said Red Bulls U-16 head coach Stan Lembryk. "We gained a lot of respect or our organization and the league against some of the worlds most recognizable clubs. We were the surprise of the tournament."
The U-16s first took on Partizan Belgarde, where they played to a 2-2 draw. New York opened the scoring in the 18th minute when Dylan Mencia sent Cesar Blacido through with a well-weighted ball before Blacido blasted it into the upper 90. The Serbian side was able to equalize in the 35th minute but in the 44th minute, the Red Bulls took the lead for the second time in the game.
Walter Hines was able to slip a pass behind the defense to the speedy Chris Agorsor, who neatly slotted it past the Partizan goalkeeper to give the Red Bulls the lead. However, Partizan leveled the match again and both teams earned a point after a forward was able to hit in a cross from the wing.
In the Red Bulls' second match, they took on Juventus in a game that also ended in a 2-2 tie. The Red Bulls got on the scoresheet first once again when Blacido played a perfectly timed ball behind the defense and in Agorsor's path and the attacker made no mistake, putting it in for his second goal of the tournament.
Juventus countered by scoring their own goal in the 31st minute, but seven minutes later, the Red Bulls went ahead against when J.J. Raley's free kick found the head of Sacir Hot, who nodded it into the back of the net.
With a chance to advance to the knockout stages, the Red Bulls' final match was against Sevilla. In a very hard-fought battle, the Red Bulls took the lead 18 minutes in after Agorsor was taken down in the box. Captain Dragan Naumoski stepped up and converted the spot kick to give the U-16s the lead.
Sevilla would tie the game up in the 40th minute, leading to a dramatic conclusion. The Red Bulls had a number of chances to go ahead in the second half. Joey Spivack was close when he took a shot that deflected off the goalkeeper's foot. In a one-on-one situation, Hines was able to get to the goalkeeper, but he could not finish the chance off. And Cesar Blacido was inches away as well, when his header glanced just past the back post. Sevilla was able to put one of their chances away in the second half, giving them a 2-1 win.
Despite finishing in third place in the group, the U-16s were pleased with their performance.
"We can away with many positives and a wonderful experience that will surely help our players in the future," Lembryk said. "We scored in each of our games and we were the only team to take points off the group winner, Partizan Belgrade. We hope to have more opportunities to play at this level and continue to help develop our home grown players."
While in Spain, the U-16s were able to also get a match in where they won, 3-0, against local team Miguelturra. Hennie Bosman, Spivack and Oscar Gonzalez were the scorers while goalkeeper Travis Ives earned the shutout.
"I would especially like to thank MLS and Alfonso Mondelo, the Red Bulls, Mundalito U-17, and my staff Assistant Coach Antonio Meza, Equipment Manager Fernando Ruiz, and Athletic Trainer Veronica Pagel," Lembryk said.
U-16 Roster:
Christopher Agorsor, Nuncio Belfiore, César Blacido, Handrik L. Bosman, Thomas Charles Brandt, Giorgi Chirgadze, Kevin Finnegan, Franco Gomero, Oscar González, Walter Hines, Sacir Hot, Travis Steven Ives, Eric Jorgensen, Brendan Michael Klebanoff, Christopher John Lebo, Dylan Mencia, Dragan Naumoski, John Raley, Joel Spivack, David Najem.
